Midtown, historically known as Houston's second neighborhood, flourished in the 1930s and 40s, but experienced urban decline as suburban alternatives grew in the following decades. As part of a larger renaissance in the City of Houston to reclaim and enliven vacant and public spaces, a public-private partnership was formed to create a premier park destination in the Midtown district.
The SITES Silver-certified Minneapolis Convention Center Plaza is the first SITES project in Minnesota, and the first SITES-certified project at a convention center.
Feature image: The SITES-certified Cultural Arts Corridor: The Lower Ramble in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Image credit: Watershed Conservation Resource Center.
Feature image: The SITES Silver University of Texas at El Paso in El Paso, Texas. Image courtesy of UT El Paso.
This Earth Month, we celebrate the diversity of projects pursuing nature-based solutions through SITES.
Image credit: © Dale Horchner, Design Workshop.
The Sustainable SITES Initiative is pleased to offer a redesigned plaque for existing and future projects to declare their achievement. This new design was developed based on valuable community feedback. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas about what SITES projects envision for their certified locations.
The Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center is a new construction project at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The college is one of only four higher education campuses to achieve carbon neutrality in the United States as of 2022, and plans to use the Sustainable SITES Initiative as its campus landscape standard for all major projects moving forward.
The SITES Gold certified Campsite at Shield Ranch is a 100% off-grid facility comprised of an open-air pavilion, 11 screened sleeping shelters, a trail system, and outdoor gathering spaces. It serves as the new home for Camp El Ranchito, a scholarship-based nature overnight camp. El Ranchito started in 2007 as a primitive campsite with the mission to connect children with the natural world by providing an extraordinarily fun and inspiring nature-immersion experience.
Image credit: Leonid Furmansky.
The SITES Gold Campsite at Shield Ranch, located just 22 miles from downtown Austin, Texas, serves as the new home for Camp El Ranchito, a scholarship-based overnight camp. El Ranchito started in 2007 as a primitive campsite with the mission to connect children with the natural world by providing an extraordinarily fun and inspiring nature immersion experience.
The Lower Ramble is a dynamic outdoor park located along the Razorback Greenway in Downtown Fayetteville. It is free to the public and helps connect the community to the Fay Jones Woodland and Tanglewood Branch stream. The park is linear in shape and includes hard and soft surface trails, overview lookout points, gathering spaces, bike parking, restored stream access, and lighting. It is a woodland ecosystem and is home to native trees, shrubs, perennials, a waterway, and rock outcroppings.
Feature image credit: Joshua Clark/University of Illinois Chicago.
Located in the heart of the city, the SITES-certified University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), is a vital part of the educational, technological and cultural fabric of the region. UIC’s Arthington Mall Plaza serves as an open common area for students, faculty, staff and visitors of the west side of campus.